Washington Recoups Great Recession Job Losses, With Caveat

It took four years, but Washington has now recovered more jobs than it lost during the Great Recession.

But that announcement comes with a caveat.

Paul Turek, a labor economist with Washington’s Employment Security Department, says it turns out the number of jobs lost during the recession was actually fewer than previously estimated.

“This means that the state employment recession was not as deep as originally estimated.”

Washington’s unemployment rate for January was 6.4 percent -- the lowest since the fall of 2008. Despite the jobs recovery, more than 200,000 Washingtonians are still out of work and looking for a job.

Oregon and Idaho are not yet back to pre-recession job levels. Idaho projects it will reach that point in May or June of next year.